This invention relates generally to a surgical tool and more specifically to a bipolar surgical tool for use in cutting tissue and coagulation of blood as well as placing and removing surgical materials into and from a surgical site.
Bipolar cutting and coagulation tools are known in the art. These usually consist of dual armed instruments which are attached at their proximal end and progressively space apart as they reach the distal tip.
Such an instrument is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,405 issued to Kazuhiko Fujitsu et al., entitled xe2x80x9cBipolar Surgical Tweezersxe2x80x9d which relates to an electric coagulating and incising tweezers with improved visual field of operation. The tweezers have a perfusion passage embedded in the surface on the inside of one of the arms.
Another instrument with similar characteristics is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,712 issued to Frank C. Koranda et al., entitled xe2x80x9cBipolar Suction Tonsillar Dissectorxe2x80x9d. The patent issued to Koranda et al. describes a bipolar suction tonsillar dissector having parallel arms which diverge as they near the distal, pointed end of the instrument. It includes a pair of arms connected by a connector plug to define forceps. One arm includes a tubular suction channel which may be connected to a vacuum source and presents an opening at the remote end through which undesired or excess fluids may be removed from the dissection site.
The principal difficulty with the foregoing instruments is that the tips are maintained in an open position while at rest. This creates difficulty in maneuvering into deep, small wounds due to the added risk of trauma to the wound site caused by the normally open, spaced apart ends. The problem is especially troublesome in the field of neurosurgery and more particularly in the area of brain surgery. It is often the case that a surgeon must enter into the brain through a very small wound opening. This is largely due to the need of perforating the cranium in the least invasive way. With the prior art instruments, a surgeon runs the risk of damaging nerves, as well as surrounding blood vessels, upon insertion of the instrument due to the normally biased open position of the instrument""s arms.
A second difficulty with such prior art devices is that a surgeon normally has to change instruments when it becomes necessary to pick up objects such as gelfoam material, hemostatic agents, and the like. The prior art instruments are not convenient for that purpose due to the requirement of constant, applied manual pressure in order to maintain the tips of the arms closed. Furthermore, the tips, even when joined through closure of the arms, only make contact at the distal-most portion of the end of the arms, allowing for only minimal grasping capabilities. This has the effect of making the transport and positioning of surgical material difficult, often requiring changing instruments to better grasp objects and bring or remove them from the wound site.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved bipolar tools having the capability of entering into small wounds without causing trauma, incise tissue, coagulate tissue and blood in order to prevent excessive blood loss and simultaneously, more effectively grasp materials that need to be inserted and removed from the wound site.
It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to provide an improved bipolar tool which provides for better grasping of surgical materials due to biasing the distal ends in a closed position. It is another aspect of the invention to provide an improved bipolar tool that is easily maneuverable in and out of deep, small wounds due to the distal ends being biased in a closed position. This reduces the chance of trauma to surrounding nerves and blood vessels.
A further aspect of the invention is to facilitate viewing of the surgical site during use of the inventive forceps due to a bayonet bend of the longitudinal arms, thereby angling away from the surgeon""s view. It is still another aspect of the present invention to accomplish the above-stated objects by utilizing a tool which is simple in design and use and efficient to manufacture.
The foregoing advantages of the invention are illustrative of those that can be achieved by the present invention and are not intended to be exhaustive or limiting of the possible advantages which can be realized. Thus, these and other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description herein or can be learned from practicing the invention, both as embodied herein or as modified in view of any variation which may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention resides in the novel apparatus, arrangements, combination and improvements herein shown and described.
The present invention generally relates to a bipolar tool for cutting, manipulating, dissecting and cauterizing tissue and grasping objects which includes first and second arms that are electrically conductive and electrically isolated from one another. Each arm carries opposite electrical charges through the metal of the arm itself or through a conducting wire that runs from the distal ends of the arms to an electrical connector at the proximal end. These arms have distal and proximal ends wherein the arms function as independent electrodes. The distal ends of the arms of the bipolar tool are biased in a closed position, which forces the distal ends of the arms together to enable the dissection of tissue. In its resting state with no force applied to the bipolar tool, the distal ends are forced together in a closed position by the spring-like tension due to the construction of the bipolar tool and the composition of the material from which the arms are made as well as the shape of the arms. The tool has an insulating member 16 which is attached to the arms at their proximal ends. The insulating member 16 can be made of any insulating material that is non-conductive to electricity. The arms are at opposite sides of a crossover point and extend from the proximal end towards the distal end in a substantially parallel relationship until reaching the crossover point. The arms curve towards and crossover each other to opposite sides of the crossover point and realign in a substantially parallel relationship as they extend towards the distal end of the tool.
Thus, there is disclosed, a bipolar tool for surgical use comprising first and second electrically conductive arms each having a distal end and a proximal end. Each of the first and second electrically conductive arms function as an independent electrode at the joining of the distal ends. The bipolar tools also includes an insulating element is used for electrically isolating the proximal ends of the first and second electrically conductive arms from one another; said insulating element and said arms are configured for biasing the distal ends of the first and second electrically conductive arms in a normally joined or closed position.
The bipolar tool according to the invention may also additionally comprise an insulating covering extending from the proximal ends up to, but not including, the distal ends of the first and second electrically conductive arms for isolating the first and second electrically conductive arms from each other. The tool preferably has a tapered tip at the distal end of at least one of the arms and at least one of the arms has a planarly flattened distal end. The tool preferably comprises an irrigation tube extending from near said proximal end of at least one arm to an area near the distal end of said arm.
In another embodiment, the tool includes pointed tips at the distal ends of the first and second electrically conductive arms. In yet another embodiment, the arms are generally planarly flattened from the distal end to the proximal end of the arm.
There is also disclosed a bipolar tool for surgical use comprising a first electrically conductive arm which has a distal end and a proximal end. The first electrically conductive arm functions as an independent electrode and a second electrically conductive arm has a distal end and a proximal end. The second electrically conductive arm functions as an independent electrode and runs parallel on one side of the first electrically conductive arm at the proximal end to converge at the distal end from the other side after a crossover point. An insulating element for electrically isolating said proximal ends of said first electrically conductive arm and said second electrically conductive arm from one another, wherein said insulating element and said arms are configured to bias the distal ends of the first and second electrically conductive arms in a normally joined position.
In a further embodiment, the tool includes an insulating covering extending from the proximal ends up to, but not including, the distal ends of the first and second electrically conductive arms for isolating the first electrically conductive arm from the second electrically conductive arm.